Inexpensive Vacations - Three Ideas

The biggest advantage of inexpensive vacations? You can have more of them! Here are a few ideas to get you started.

All Inclusive Resorts

All inclusive resort deals, which provide all the food you can eat, along with activities and even drinks, are a great experience. You can leave your wallet in the room and swim up to the pool bar for a drink anytime you like, or eat in one of the resort restaurants without waiting for a bill afterwards. The only problem is that these are not normally inexpensive vacations.

Fortunately, there are a couple ways to have an all inclusive resort vacation for as much as half-off. One way is to search for last minute deals. In fact, you can start by searching "last minute packages" or "last minute all inclusive deals" in any search engine. Or you can go to places like Expedia.com and look for special deals.

We recently did this and found a package for about $600 each for five days and four nights. It included the flight from Denver to Cancun, and everything at the resort. I mean everything, by the way. We never left the resort. All drinks (alcoholic and otherwise) were included at any of their four bars. All meals were included at any of their six restaurants. There was a free show every night (dance shows, comedy skits, a magician and more), and dancing in the lounge. We swam in the ocean or one of the swimming pools, and soaked in the hot tubs. Even kayaking in the lagoon was included.

These deals are set up for two people or more if you want to keep it inexpensive. They did try to sell us on tours of the jungle, etc, but there was so much to do at the resort that we just stayed there. In fact we checked out having never shown them a credit card even, and we spent perhaps $30 on tips, although those were actually included too (we felt like tipping extra).

The other way to get these deals is to book a trip during the off-season. That can vary from place to place, so check on this carefully. Generally, you won't find the best deals during spring break.

Two Other Inexpensive Vacations

Another way to keep it cheap is to find a hostel near a beach and look for cheap flights. If you haven't stayed in a hostel before, let me warn you that it may not be right for you. You essentially rent a bed in a common sleeping area instead of a private room. Bathrooms and kitchen areas are shared. If you can handle a party atmosphere and shared space, this can be a great way for a single person to spend less to travel.

One of the advantages besides the savings is that you meet so many people. Generally there is a common room where guests watch television and mingle. I met people from a dozen different nations when I stayed in a hostel in Ecuador.

If privacy is important to you, you can check to see what a private room in a hostel will cost. Most have a few private rooms, and they are cheaper than hotel rooms. You might still have to share the television in the common area, but this can be a nice compromise, especially if two of you are going, and the bed rate would be almost as much for two as a room.

Finally, there is one way to arrange really inexpensive vacations while keeping in touch with old friends and family. First, make a list of people you know who live in places you would like to visit. Then check online to see which destinations have the best deals on airfare. Once you have that information, call a couple of your family members or friends and see if they would like company. You might have a nice week-long vacation for under $400 following this strategy.